Tips For Leading Your Team Remotely

The world has changed quite a bit over the last month or so. Due to the pandemic known as COVID-19 people all over the world have begun quarantining and social distancing from others in order to attempt to halt the virus in its tracks. This has caused many businesses that have the means to do their jobs from home to do just that. While it’s great that so many people are still able to work, it can be a difficult adjustment to make for both employees and their leaders. Employees might prefer being in the office, and not having that in their day to day can make the home and work lives mash together. Leaders in these situations have to figure out creative ways to make sure everyone is still getting their work done while also not losing their minds, but just how are they supposed to do that? Here are a few tips to help you lead your team remotely.

Communication Is Key

While communicating with your team is always vital, it’s even more important when you’re forced to work remotely from them. Whether it’s communication about what’s going on in the company, or just checking in to make sure members of your team are doing okay, communication is key. One good way to encourage communication is by having a short meeting each day where members of the team get together and ask how they’re doing or what they’re working on that day. Leaders can also have one on one check-in calls where they ask about things they’re struggling with when it comes to working remotely or getting them caught up with the day to day business of the company.

Make Sure There Is Access To The Proper Tools

Another point to keep in mind when leading remotely is that each of your team members has what they need in order to do their job and do it properly. This usually comes down to technology, such as making sure they have internet access or a computer they can use. It isn’t all hardware either though – you’ll want to make sure they have any software they may need to access business portals or to be able to have video meetings with you and the rest of the team.

Trust Your Team

Trust is the foundation of a winning team. If you normally see your team every day, it’s easy to stay on top of them and make sure they’re doing what needs to be done. When working remotely, it’s pretty much impossible to find out if they’re even doing actually getting their things done. There are tracking systems of course, but when it comes down to it you’ll need to be able to trust each team member and be flexible if situations arise that require flexibility.